NEW YORK, March 3 — The Biden administration yesterday added two units of prominent Chinese genetics company BGI and Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur to a trade blacklist, a move that promises to further ratchet up tensions with Beijing.
The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, added BGI Research and BGI Tech Solutions (Hongkong), over allegations the firms pose a “significant risk” to contributing to Chinese government surveillance used to repress ethnic minorities.
It accused Inspur of acquiring and attempting to acquire US goods to support China’s military modernization efforts.
The companies and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Twenty-six other Chinese entities were also added to the list, which makes it hard for targeted companies to receive shipments of US goods from suppliers.
The move looks set to further escalate ill will between Washington and Beijing, which have been locked in a technology war for years. Tensions have been especially high since the Biden administration last month shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had crossed a broad swath of the United States.
In 2020, the Commerce Department added two units of BGI Group, the world’s largest genomics company, to its economic blacklist over allegations it conducted genetic analyses used to further the repression of China’s minority Uyghurs.
Beijing has denied wrongdoing. BGI denied allegations of wrongdoing at the time. — Reuters
